


The Blood Scientist

by Marylight007



Category: The Glass Scientists (Webcomic), The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:35:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22072633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marylight007/pseuds/Marylight007
Summary: Dr. Robert Lanyon holds a life changing meeting, even if it takes him some time to realize it.(The Glass Scientists Vampire Au)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 79





	1. Devon

Chapter 1

Sometimes there is only one logical outcome, maybe you can’t see it until it has already happened, but you can accept more or less that it happened without feeling the need to wonder “what if”. But what was going to occur that day, was something that would make Robert Lanyon wonder a lot of “what if’s”.

It was a day hard to describe, it was sunny, what’s weird in London. The thick fog that usually plagued the streets was taking a break. The people walked happily down and up the streets. Even the horrible smell of the river was somewhat better.  
From the cab, Lanyon heard laughter, birds, horses, people, life happening out there, it just seemed the kind of perfect day when nothing bad could happen.

It was a weird day because Lanyon felt like this all was staged just to annoy him, when you have to describe a feeling, you must be extreme, and so will I: when you feel like Lanyon that day, you feel like a dark blue in the middle of the pink, you feel like a blind man in the middle of a new art gallery, you feel like everyone is talking about tonight’s party and tomorrow you are going to a funeral, you feel attacked by the world, not only being happy, but by the world carrying on without waiting for you.

When he felt like this there was usually a rational explanation, but not today, he couldn’t allow himself to let a meeting with a man that was discretely disliked and some weird rumors make him feel worse than when he was going to argue with his father.

And with the orange sunset and the arrival of a soft but cold breeze, he knocked on the white door thinking about how much coming here alone would help Henry, he could finally get some rest of the sponsors and the meetings.

The house was relatively small on the outside, but it looked much bigger on the inside, it was filled to the brim with antiques and art, furniture and strange objects from all around the world. It was weird that someone that seemed to have travelled so much never showed up in any high society events, not even had made any known friends in the year that he had spent in London. He was guided through the house by a discreet servant that wasn’t very talkative, what’s more, he hadn’t even said a small “Good afternoon” , there didn’t seem to be anyone else in the house, not even a maid.

He was lead to a big living room filled with luxurious but comfortable armchairs, it also had some tables and a big fireplace, the small flames suggested that it had been recently lit.

A big man with the darkest black hair that Lanyon had ever seen was opening the thick curtains, welcoming the yellow streetlight and the sound of gleeful chatter from a nearby pub.

The man turned to him and dismissed the servant in some foreign language, it was weird, he probably had one of the warmest smiles in all London.

-Good Morning Doctor Lanyon, if I remember correctly, I’m sorry for the rudeness of my staff, you see, he hasn’t learned the queen’s language yet. Please, take a sit, I’m so glad you could come to my residence, I feel honored.- Said the man happily.

-Oh please, Sir Devon, the pleasure is mine. I see that, unlike your servant, you have mastered the language perfectly.- Lanyon couldn’t believe his eyes, was this the eccentric man he was so worried about meeting? He seemed like the most elegant and nice person he had met in quite a long time. Besides, who was the cofounder of an arcane science society to judge anyone of being eccentric?

-Oh well, you see, I was actually born in England, in Bath to be precise, but I have travelled so much that my accent has become quite tainted, I know this. Would you like something to drink, some wine?

Lanyon sat down and accepted the drink, he also couldn’t help to notice how Sir Devon served himself from a different wine, but that wine was cheaper and was already open, Lanyon supposed that he didn’t like wasting a drink that had already been started but wanted to make a good first impression, after all, everyone would ask Lanyon what the mysterious Sir Devon was like.

They sat down comfortably and talked about the wonders of the Society, Sir Devon was proving to be a very sensible man with quite some knowledge picked here and there from his travels around the world, he knew about medicine, botany, and even some alchemy. But he did point out at one point that his favorite field was criptozoology. 

Lanyon couldn’t help but think how excited Henry would get if he heard this conversation. And so they talked while the night made of London his domain.


	2. Scared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sir Devon seems to be afraid of something.

Chapter 2

As the night advanced inthe city sky smoothly, without interruption, so did the conversation between the good doctor Lanyon and Sir Devon. 

But at some point, Lanyon felt the need of finding a new topic to talk about. His eyes lazily searched the room until they fixed on a newspaper laying on a table. 

He remembered the recent attacks of a mysterious killer around all London. Suddenly everything seemed to fit. Sir Devon had moved to a big city, were he didn’t know anyone and suddenly a killer was on the loose and the newspaper talks about a creature of the night.

He probably had read something about the Society and, being a cultured man, had decided to talk to some expert about how he could protect himself from the monster.

But why hadn’t he talked about this? Probably because Lanyon wasn’t any kind of cryptozoologist himself.   
Well, Sir Devon had already promised to become a sponsor for the Society so, maybe he could already talk about it, maybe that new lodger Jasper could be of some help for Sir Devon.

-So, have you heard about this monster on the loose, Sir Devon? We do have a werewolf among our rogue scientists, but he wouldn’t do anything as gruesome as those crimes.- Lanyon said confidently.

Suddenly, as if the flames on the fireplace had transformed into ice, the room felt frozen, as well as Sir Devon’s face, which a minute ago had hold the warmest smile.

Lanyon started thinking that he shouldn’t have talked about it, maybe Sir Devon was too afraid to trust anyone yet. Had Sir Devon not taken his gloves off in the whole evening?

Sir Devon lifted his glass to his mouth, he didn’t drink, it was just an excuse to think about his answer, but he couldn’t avoid biting his lips, an annoying habit that he had when he was anxious. This time he bit a little too hard and a treacherous drop of blood creeped into his wine.

He left the glass on the table.

-So, you do believe that it’s a monster what preys these streets at night time, truth be told, it’s been long since I’ve lived in such a big city, and I’m a little scared- said Sir Devon with a small, cold smile.

-Yes, I do think so, and so do most of the Society's scientists that know about the subject.

-I see…- Devon didn’t finish his sentence, too absorbed in what the doctor had to say.

-Well, I’m not an expert myself but, you can come to the Society at any time to ask those who are. I suppose that you want to know how to protect yourself while the police hunts this horrible creature. 

-Do you think that there’s only one vampire involved, doctor?

\- Well, I do know that there are some vampires in London, but their acts are nowhere as vicious and numerous as this particular case.- Lanyon grabbed the glass of wine from the small table without breaking eye contact with Davon.- Also, they are not so foolish as to hurt someone from the upper class, unlike this one.

Lanyon took a large sip of the glass, just a second late he thought, just a second later he realized that he should have looked what glass he was taking, he realized that it wasn’t wine what filled this glass. He also realized that his face was showing all his realizations, he realized that Devon saw him. 

It was blood.


	3. Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Running away

A mouse’s heart beats so fast that it’s said that if you listen to it, it sounds just like a murmur. If you listened to Dr Lanyon’s heart while Sir Devon was taking off his gloves, revealing black, sharp, long nails, you could only hear one thing: run!

And so he did, he ran towards the door, through the house, he even ran when he was grabbed by the servant and shoved against the wall by the monster. The adrenaline flowing wildly through his veins as he felt two sharp strange objects dig onto his neck. He didn’t want to believe anything, he didn’t want to be, to live, but right then and there, he didn’t want to die. 

The only thing he could think of right there was how to make it stop and, out of instinct, he closed his eyes and went limp. His mind was fixed on the hellish sucking sounds and trying not to faint.

To his surprise, the creature actually stopped and stepped back. He couldn’t risk a move yet, he just laid on the floor. For a moment he actually wondered if he was dead, how could he really know.

He heard Devon quietly sniff and… wait, was he crying?

-I’m tired, I’m so tired of waiting for someone to understand, doctor. I thought that your Society would finally… ahh…

He heard him take some steps back, then the servant’s voice asked something in a foreign language, which was tiredly answered by the monster.   
The sad creature left the room slowly, they really thought that he was dead. He could still hear the servant, so he continued laying there, he thought about Devon’s confession, from a monster’s mouth it was worthless, he had just sucked his blood! But he chose not to think about that yet, he didn’t want the noises to come back to his memory and actually faint. 

The servant left the room at last, probably to get something with which get rid of the body. Lanyon took what could be his only chance and ran towards the street as fast as he could. In other circumstances he would already be out of breath but not this time, he kept on running and running, at some point he mindlessly started to cry for help. 

At some point he found a policeman and at some point he reached the Society with the help of an officer. 

He heard some of the lodgers screaming. Someone grabbed him. Rachel went to find Dr Jekyll.

At last, seeing his bloodstained hands, he felt save, and he closed his eyes.

Sir Devon had run away many times, too many to be counted, and he gave up, he wouldn’t run away again.

The next morning papers would talk about the horrible attack, the mob that went after the monster, the brave policeman that arrested it, the express trial that condemned the demon and the bizarre execution.


	4. Waking up

Lanyon slowly returned from the land of the dreamless sleep feeling the sun on his face. He didn’t think about anything at first, until he remembered that he always drew his curtains before going to sleep, so how was it possible that he was feeling the sun. 

That’s when he remembered, too vividly to be a nightmare, all that had happened the previous night. He thought about it for a while, but he kept his eyes shut, his body remained still on that foreign bed that was comfortable, but so different from his own.   
If he opened his eyes, then everything would become true, and he didn’t feel ready to face that.

He remained quiet while he tried to remember where he had ended up after running away. The policemen, the blood, they had said that he had to go to a hospital. But he spoke to them, he didn’t remember what he had said, but he remembered the Society. The Society, that is where he must have fainted, that was good, he trusted Henry more than any hospital doctor, he had seen him save people before. Now that he thought about it, he could smell the relatively strong scent of chemicals in the air.

Like with that Morcant, there had been so much blood that time… oh.. oh.. blood… like before… like now, no, not now, last night… it had beeen last night… then a thought crossed Lanyon’s mind, making all the others appear so much smaller. His neck. The bite.

This thought had probably been written all over his face, because he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

-Are you awake?- Said a familiar voice with a whisper.

He opened slowly his eyes adjusting them to the light. Henry was sitting next to him with concerned eyes but a smile full of calmness. God, he looked exhausted, he probably hadn’t slept yet.

Behind him with a big smile was Rachel, if she was happy that meant that his injuries weren’t so bad anymore. Without even realizing it, he reached a hand to his neck, he felt the bandages. 

-Don’t even touch that bandage, Robert.- Said Jekyll grabbing gently his hand. -How are you feeling?- Robert wasn’t even going to answer that. But he knew that without Jekyll’s alchemy he would be feeling much worse. So he just tried to sit on the bed. Jekyll rushed to help him. - Wow, slowly Robert, do you remember what happened yesterday?-.

-You gave us a good scare, you know Doctor?!.- Exclaimed Rachel while she picked up some bloody clothes that had been used to stop his bleeding. 

Robert tried to speak, but he found that it was harder to speak than he had thought. - I think… that I do recall… more than what I would like…- his voice was low, dry and raspy. 

-God, wait here you both, I’m going to get you two some water and something to eat.- Said Rachel- Can the patient eat normally, Dr Jekyll?- asked jokingly the day manager. 

-Yes, as long as he feels like it.- Henry answered.

Rachel left and Robert thought if he was ready to stomach something, he was indeed thirsty, but then he remembered that the last thing he had swallowed had been blood. He felt a nausea and reached for his mouth. Jekyll absolutely noticed it and reached for a bucket, but Robert didn’t throw up. He wasn’t going to stomach anything right now.

-Robert, I know that this is… not the best moment… but this is important, there was… blood- Henry brushed Robert’s hair with his fingers from his face. - There was blood in your mouth… please, tell me where it came from.-

Robert told all what he could remember to his friend, and Henry seemed to relax. - You see Robert, I understand that maybe you don’t see it this way but… thank God that it was just human blood. Jasper has told us what he knows about that horrible creatures. If they drink your blood, of course the can kill you, but it’s when you drink theirs too when you… turn.-

Rachel came into the room carrying water and some food that Lanyon would not touch. Henry wouldn’t eat much neither.

Rachel told Lanyon the news about Sir Devon - So that bastard monster is dead for real now! No one messes with one of us! That was one real bad monster, not like Zosi!-

-Yeah, he was, a nightmare… a real one…- Now Lanyon remembered Devon’s confession, he had hoped that they would accept him, Lanyon couldn’t understand why he felt so… affected by that monster’s words.

-But, who killed him? The mob?- asked Robert a bit confused.

-Nah, the Sargent called a judge, it wasn’t too late to contact him, he sentenced that he was guilty of all the murders in London and some more and, because he was, you know a walking leech, he had no rights to anything, so he was killed on the spot.- Rachel thought that it would make Lanyon feel better, but he seemed a little scared.

-Robert…-Jekyll started to say leaning a little over the bed.

-No, don’t worry, it’s just that, you did save Mr. Kaylock that night. Not that I’m comparing, he is not a cold blooded killer! It’s just that… I don’t know… He was going to kill me, and now I should be glad, but…- Robert was really upset right now.

-We understand that yours is a difficult situation, nobody expects you to celebrate anything!- said Jekyll reassuringly.

-You know,-Robert looked to the window now- even when you know that there’s a killer on the loose, and that he, well, it, has killed people of high status, you can’t imagine that the next could be you… and much less because of having grabbed the wrong glass…- Robert didn’t seem able to follow this conversation any longer without reviving yesterday’s events, vividly.

Jekyll decided that it was time to change the subject.

-Well...you know, now that you are taking some days off-

-Henry, we can’t afford to-!- replied Robert.

-Ah ah, doctor’s orders. Now that you are taking some days off- Henry reached for a new looking leather, purple painted notebook- you could write from, you know, a doctor’s perspective how the recovery is and everything… there are not so many records.- Jekyll’s real intention was less scientific, he hoped that it would help his friend to get over the incident.  
Robert couldn’t help but notice how the notebook was painted with his color.

When Henry left, letting his good friend rest, a small blond decided that it was a good time to show up.

-What a shame, don’t you think?- Said Hyde from Jekyll’s shadow while Henry opened his office door.

-Shut up Hyde. I don’t even know what you are talking about, Robert will be just fine.-

-Oh, but you know what I’m talking about.

-If you think that I’m going to cry over a lost chance of studying a new creature you are wrong. I wouldn’t want that monster around here even if he replaced all of Lanyon’s father founding. He almost killed my best friend!- Said Jekyll to Hyde in the mirror while he poured a generous amount of wine in his glass. He stared at it for just a brief moment, feeling guilty for allowing his friend to go alone to that tragic meeting.

-Yeah, yeah… But I’m not talking about him, I’m talking about Robert big nose Lanyon, c’mon… just one drop and… puff! He would be much more interesting, holy shit, that’s for sure.-

-You, don’t you dare! Agh… just let me be… I’m not following your games today.

-Oh Henry… I know that being a monster in this Society is becoming much less special since Wolfy and Creature arrived…-

-The only monster here is you, Hyde.- At this Hyde stared at Jekyll. Jekyll drank directly from the bottle this time.

-Said the madman, fine, keep telling that to yourself, doctor. Anyway, I insist about this, only one treacherous drop would have been enough! What a shame.-

Meanwhile, on his small bedroom, Lanyon found himself unable to sleep. He took the notebook and started writing. No one had to read this if he didn’t want to, he could make this journal his own. He found himself writing every single detail of his meeting. 

At certain point he stopped, when he found himself writing about how Sir Devon had seemed anxious, how he had discreetly bitten his lip, was it a vampire thing? Should that have meant something? He decided to keep on writing, that wasn’t the most important thing that had happened.


	5. Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lanyon has questions. And yes, he comes out of the closet.

If you shaked a honeycomb with all your might and waited to see what happened, I will only say, that it would just sound half as desmeasurely exalted as the Society’ s lodgers that morning. Most of this rogue scientist where practically nocturnal at this point, and they all had heard or saw the shouting and the bring-mes and the what-happeneds. The few that still treasured their healthy sleep habits were widely informed of facts as well as rumors that morning. Every single soul in the building knew already what had occurred the previous night. 

And soon the ash-fueled automaton heart that London was would be beating, firstly, full of fear when reading or listening about the attack; and then, full of pride while listening to the truculent methods used to kill the beast. The priest would talk about the demons defeated that night, the neighbors about how they would have never guessed, the ladies about how bold had the survivor been, and from a rich family too…

Scotland Yard would hold its head high when an official heard “Finally, they’ve done something right!”.

But Jekyll and Rachel would put titanic effort on guarding the tired Robert door: they knew that he needed to rest.

While the lodgers ate their breakfast, their lately Frankenstein monothematic chats were replaced by any anecdotes vampire-related: truths, rumors, experiments and local myths from all around the globe were welcomed. With the help of Doodle and Cantilupe’s empathic comments about Jekyll’s good work despite his own shock, the recently rejected shiny doctor was allowed to participate in the conversation. In spite of Helsby’s grumbling.

Of course, it was just a matter of time until the good doctor was being interrogated about Lanyon, Jekyll would have just avoided any particularly personal or gruesome detail, but Rachel appeared with a large trail full of new cups and sweets.

-C’mon you all, do you really think that Dr. Jekyll would be sitting here, drinking his tea if Lanyon was still in danger?- Said Rachel loudly.

-Yeah, or if his friend was a new bloodsucking dangAUCH!

-Shut up

Jekyll decided that he hadn’t heard that. 

-Pfff, who said that? It’s strange that they didn’t call him your boyfriend, oh right, they think that’s me- Edward mocked from the tea where Jekyll should have been able to see his reflection. Great, another voice for the stressed and sleepless doctor to ignore.

More than one of the lodgers wanted to see Robert that day, but only two were allowed. Firstly, came Miss Ito, who was asked by Jekyll to give a second opinion despite Robert’s wailing about it. 

Miss Ito inspected the bite, but it was healing surprisingly fast. They didn’t talk much about that, they were just glad of the recovery. The other lodger that got to see Robert was Jasper.

Jasper was surprised when he got in the room, Dr. Lanyon seemed undoubtedly ill, he looked frail, his skin and hair had lost all their brightness, but he seemed as elegant as ever. Lanyon had barely been aware when he combed his hair, adjusted his clothes and put on his fake smile, it was pure routine, a must. 

Lanyon was pleasantly surprised too when he saw that there was a somewhat acceptable young boy behind the criminal-looking greasy mess that Jekyll had introduced to him some nights before. 

Jasper knew quite some things about vampires and Robert himself had called him to ask him all his recent doubts. Jekyll hadn’t considered it a good idea, he thought that Robert needed to forget about it, but something in Robert’s eyes reminded him for the first time about the night he had saved Morcant.  
It was a strange mix of Morcant’s pain and Jekyll’s fascination, or were they more like Jekyll’s eyes the night he made the HJ7, his need to know. Eventually Jekyll gave up and went to look for Jasper.

The conversation started civilly, as was expected of a gentleman like Dr. Lanyon, and Jasper warnings about how his specialty was more the werewolf field. Jasper answered all of Robert’s questions, he knew more than he had admitted. Soon the questions got faster, and then they weren’t even questions, Robert named popular rumors about the creatures and Jasper said how much truth they had in them.

-They need to drink blood.

-Yes, but they don’t need to kill someone to do it.

-Must it be human?

-I think so.

-The sun burns them.- Lanyon’s eyes searched instinctively for the window.

-Yes, but I don’t think that it can get to kill them.

-They can turn into a lot of bats.

-That’s not completely true, they can turn into one bat, and I know some cases of other animals, snakes, rats, even wolves!

-Have you met any?

-Thankfully no!

-Garlic.

-That one is false, but they can’t ingest very well anything.

-They can’t stand cor anglais.

-What? Where did you hear that? No.

The conversation went on until the sun was already very low, Rachel stormed into the room with a light dinner for the convalescent. He told Jasper that Lanyon needed to rest, but honestly Jasper was far more exhausted. Even though he loved to feel so appreciated by someone of Dr Lanyon’s social category, he had been feeling as in an endless test. 

Rachel scolded Robert at the sight of almost all the lunch left in the plate hours ago. Robert knew that he should be eating more, but he didn’t have any appetite. That was usually Jekyll’s thing. How the tables had turned. It was Robert’s thing to take care of Henry!

As soon as Rachel left, Robert rushed for his new journal and wrote down all the new information, which took a good while. God, how much time had been since he wrote something that wasn’t official documents or letters. He even allowed himself to scribble some doodles, he didn’t draw anything since his college days when he drew organs to help him study. 

He drew his injuries, he drew a little decoration, he drew the window, he drew a mouth, he drew fangs, he drew eyes, furious eyes, acid eyes, sad eyes. He stopped at the sight of an unexpected visitor, but he didn’t have to pull a fake smile for this one, Zosi run to his bed wagging his tail. The little church grim stopped on his tracks suddenly, he whined softly, Lanyon reached slowly with one hand to the small one. Zosi smelled the hand and nuzzled it gently, Lanyon lifted the dog and put it on his lap to pet him comfortably. After a little while Zosi barked at the door.

-Hey, little traitor.- Said Jekyll opening the door and entering the room.

-Oh, so Zosi didn’t get here on his own then.- Lanyon faked jokingly a surprised face.

-Guilty. I’m sorry, I wanted to check on you, but I didn’t know if you were still awake, so I listened and heard you were writing. And just then Zosi appeared and seemed so worried about what was behind the door…-

-Ohh, It’s just me here, Zosi, nothing to be scared of. Do vampires have some smell? Maybe Zosi smelled some trace…-

-Don’t think so much about it, he just heard something and was curious.- Henry was used to this things, if each time Zosi was curious about some smell in Hyde’s clothes or a curious sound from one of the labs he had to decipher the cause, he really would drive himself mad.- I’m glad you are using the journal.-

-Oh yes, I’ve been taking so many notes that I feel like I’m in college again.-

Henry looked worried.- If you had any new symptoms or you got worse-

-Henry, don’t worry, I’m better.- He was hiding that journal before going to sleep, and he had to make sure to get rid of the untouched dinner on his plate.

-Fine, but what you need now is rest.

Shortly after, Jekyll left, allowing Robert to make those little preparations and getting into bed. He was determined to sleep that night.

Robert had a very hard time before falling asleep. He turned and twisted but he couldn’t find a comfortable position. He pulled the blankets, he turned the pillow… eventually he was too tired to think what pose was his body adopting, and finally the black arms of dreamland reached him.

He was talking with Sir Devon, comfortably sitting on that big couch. The conversation was good, but he didn’t actually know what they were talking about. He asked himself why he didn’t mind that this gentleman was actually the monster which had dug his cursed canines into his delicate chocolate skin. He knew that Devon knew that he knew, but the creature didn’t mind it neither. Maybe they were in the void together, were Robert couldn’t run away, and here, Devon felt safe.

Lanyon drank, and it didn’t taste like wine. Maybe Devon wasn’t feeling alone any more.

No. No. NononoNONONO. This wasn’t. This couldn’t. He hadn’t drunk the monstrous poison, he wasn’t like him. Why wasn’t he running away, to home, to Henry! He had to.

He opened his eyes, hyperventilating. It was dark, it was comfortable. Where was his blanket? What was he feeling pressing his head. It wasn’t so comfortable anymore, his neck hurt, he felt dizzy, he moved a little and-THUD!

He felt to the floor, but not from his bed. The door of the closet hit him again on his head. Had he slept inside the closet? How had he got in there without even noticing? And what was even more strange: Upside down?!


	6. Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lanyon is afraid he is going mad.

Lanyon was sitting on the bed, eyes closed, right under the sunlight of the morning. His mind focused on breathing. When he felt sufficiently calm, he thought of a rational explanation. He was a man of science too, after all, just not a rogue one. 

He had been sleeping upside down, inside the closet right in front of him. The first option that came to his mind was that it had been a dream, a nightmare. Probably caused by all the stress from the last two days, it was just logical. 

But he wasn’t as naive as to believe that. That was something he could tell to anyone but himself. He was too confused by the world right now not to trust his own mind. Unless it was precisely that, his mind.

Maybe he walked half in his sleep, maybe he had gotten in there, moved by his dreams, or his fears. 

Maybe he was just mad too at this point.

Before his thoughts devoured him before his day even began, his old... friend Henry knocked on the door and politely asked for his permission to get in.

Robert opened the door immediately, what surprised Henry, who expected his friend to bee still sleep, or at least too weak to get out of bed so fast, considering the situation. 

-Good Morning, Robert.- Said Henry not bothering too much on hiding his concern.

-Good Morning Henry, what’s the matter? Something happened?-

-I’m afraid yes, but nothing that can’t wait until I check your injury, please sit on the bed.- Robert did as he was told. As Henry was undoing his bandage he said- Please Robert, tell me that you have rested tonight.-

-Yes, of course I have.- He wasn’t going to tell anyone about the incident until he understood it himself, what if they didn’t believe him, what if they did? What if Henry thought he was getting worst? Or if he believed he had turned? No, he was standing in the sun, he was reflecting in the mirror. Henry would believe he was mad! This was a one way ticket to Bethlem! Calm down, you should say something, has Henry said something to you? I think he hasn’t.

Little did he know that inside Henry’s head, he had been hours dealing with one of the worst ideas Hyde had had apart from the nightmares.   
It turns out that the blond demon had realized that he didn’t have to stop for air when he was talking while he was inside their shared mind. So he had spent the last few hours not only commanding the nightmares but also repeating: Lemme out, lemme out, lemme out, lemme out, lemme out, lemme out…  
But he couldn’t scream at Hyde to please stop for a dammed second! That would be a one way ticket to Bethlem…

So Henry wasn’t too focused on the fact that Robert had been two minutes lost on his thoughts.

-Wow, Robert, this is incredible, you have made in two days the recovery of at least a week! Look, you only have two little marks now.- Henry said pointing at the mirror.

-Yeah… What was it that couldn’t wait, Henry?- He just wanted to think about something else.

-Right, Robert… Your father has made a letter arrive.- He handed the envelope to Robert.

Robert opened it and read. He couldn’t believe it. His father, the one whose son had been attacked by a real literary monster and hadn’t even bothered to visit! His father wanted, demanded him to go see him this very morning. 

After talking to Henry, and being a little incredulous, they resigned.

Henry wasn’t at all happy about his friend leaving the bed so early, but he seemed steady, and he would go with him and take a cab.  
So they got ready. They both dressed properly, pretended to have already had breakfast and set off.

They arrived early, but it would surely be too late for Lanyon Sr.. Lanyon was already thinking about how to direct this conversation, it would probably be about money or how useless he was, lately it was the only thing they talked about. He just hoped that Henry wouldn’t be caught in the fire of their little hidden war.

But the thing his father wanted to talk about was what caught Lanyon off guard.

-Tonight!!- Robert, Henry (and Edward) said in unison. 

-Yeah, any problem?- Lanyon Sr. seemed almost surprised at their reaction while casually sipping his expensive tea.

-Any problem? I have been attacked by a monster! I’m still convalescent! You make me come all the way here! And you tell me that you also want to make me go to a party tonight! Why?- Robert didn’t even want an explanation, he just wanted to be sure that everything had happened, because this was too unbelievable.

Henry was just frozen, even Edward had fallen silent. He wanted to scream at this mean man who seemed wanted his best friend dead. But his hands were too tied, after all, they did want his sponsorship back. Anyway, Robert looked to be ready to protect himself. He has always been better at this. He has always been better.

-Yes, you have been attacked by a monster, one famous for turning other people into monsters. You have to make a public appearance as soon as possible if you want your name intact. Well, as intact as it can be after mixing yourself with those madmen.

-But it’s not enough to be attacked to- Robert was interrupted.

-I don’t know and I don’t care either what is necessary to be turned into one of those demons, nor do the people you want so badly to be sponsored by.-

He had a point there. It was horrible to admit that his father was right, but gossip is like that. He was almost a hero now, but the papers would love a fallen hero.  
He had no option but to attend to that stupid fancy party.  
He would probably have to reason with Henry about this but… at least, if he convinced everyone that he was the same as always, he might be able to convince himself too.

They left the house and went back to the Society. During all the way Henry looked worried at Robert’s frown. Little did he know that frown was only caused by Robert’s eyes refusing to accept the sunlight right now. Robert repeated to himself that he was just too tired. A little headache.  
Now that there were more lodgers around the halls, he was finally interrogated, but he didn’t care much, he was keeping his energy for that night.

It was already late in the afternoon, he was already dressed in a nicer outfit, his neck already without bandages, the bite marks hidden by the neck of his shirt. He was paranoid.

He almost reminded himself of Henry those first times he had taken him to fancy dinner parties, but he didn’t want to impress those high society members, he just wanted to feel as always, something he couldn’t manage right now. He was almost too uncomfortable to write this on his diary. Almost.

Robert struggled a little to comb his hair, and check himself on the mirror. His stupid eyes still playing tricks on him.   
Henry allowed reluctantly to let him go to that party. As long as he went with him and came back to sleep in the society so he could check on him that night as well.

Henry would hide it, even to himself, but Hyde knew better. When he put that last condition while walking down the Society’s stairs he mocked- Still afraid something happens again to your big nose booooyfriend? You know, he is not the one who turned into a monster…-

They got to the party, fortunately there weren’t too many people, logical, considering the short notice. He fetched himself and Henry two glasses of wine and chatted with all the gentlemen that came to congratulate him on his recovery. He almost felt they considered him a vampire hunter or an exorcist.   
Luckily his eyes were comfortable in this artificial light, he was really thankful for that.  
At least it was a good chance to get future sponsors, even though he felt like playing the victim card. He didn’t miss some young single ladies whispering and giggling while looking at him, he wasn’t interested, but he certainly didn’t mind, he was a human after all. Wasn’t he?

He couldn’t help but slur a little bit his smile sometimes. It wasn’t like him. He was a shark in this sea. But he was going through so much… he just convinced himself that no one would judge him. But it seems that someone did.

It all seemed to go smoothly until he was told his father wanted to talk to him. He was walking the hallway, already angry with his father, with everyone in this party because he knew where this was going. He told Henry to wait for him, he didn’t want him to go through this too.   
He saw himself in a mirror while getting to the dark room where his father was waiting. He was angry with his eyes for playing tricks on him, for one second his eyes seemed to glow red, fortunately his eyes were probably too scared of his wrath to mess with him any longer, because they were normal now.

He reached the fatal room, he was scolded, like a child. Something along the lines of smiling more, being a gentleman, swallowing his pain, being grateful to him, working hard, those madmen of that Society…  
That was it, he couldn’t hold it anymore, no one was looking nor listening, and he felt his head boiling at this point.  
-Shut up! You won’t say a thing about the Society if it’s not for helping us! Your decision is killing Henry, you know!- His eyes glowing red without him knowing.- Leave me alone!-

As he calmed down, he saw his father's face, he expected anger and pride, but there was… nothing, absolutely nothing. As though his mind was completely gone. God, what is this? He was expecting his father to snap out of it and hit him, or scream at him, or faint! Anything!

-Yess…- Was the only reaction apart of those empty eyes, his father turned and walked, walked through the party without talking to anyone. Robert went after him, concern in his face, but stopped himself from calling his father. Without saying a word his father left the party. Left him alone… And he was left to make some excuses for his father leaving early. All the guests quite surprised at this behavior from Lanyon Sr..

He was thankful when, after some time was had passed, Henry cautiously made some excuses and got them out of the party, into the cab and heading towards the Society.


	7. Rotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lanyon is in denial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry that this chapter took so long, life has been hard this past weeks.
> 
> Anyway, if someone doesn’t know this, I have an instagram “art” account: mary_light_007 . I post my drawings and fan art. Also one drawing for each chapter fanfic. 
> 
> If someone wants to tell me what do they thinks about the history, do theories, drawings or whatever, feel free. I would love to see them, after all, it’s what I’m doing too.

Frankenstein hated to admit it, but she felt somehow badly for that big-nose industrialist. At least he didn’t pretend to be a true scientist, unlike “Dr. I have separated good and evil”. But she was doubling her efforts at trying to keep the lodger on the right mad science path. 

Lanyon didn’t want to play the victim. He had tried to keep appearances since the moment he had left his room. But the lodgers and the newspapers knew how a vampire attack was like. Most of the lodgers had seen the blood, the tears and the concern in their usually calm Dr. Jekyll. 

They hadn’t came back to the exhibition, but they all wanted to get to know a little better their previously avoided co-funder. After all this time, they realized that they didn’t know much about him. He couldn’t be just a rich family gentleman. There had to be more.

As Robert and Henry got out of the cab, Henry looked at Lanyon’s thoughtful eyes.

-Robert, I know you probably don’t want anyone asking you, but, care to explain what did you and your father talk about?-

Robert tried to eliminate any sign of emotion from his face. He shouldn’t let his guard down. He couldn’t make Henry worry about this too.

-Henry, don’t worry, you know how our arguments are like…-

-Yes, I do, that’s why I expected to hear some shouting, well, not in the party, but- he stopped as he noticed his voice a little louder than it should, he breathed deeply- I know your father, he would never leave a social event like that, he cares too much about his reputation.-

-I know…- Robert thought about it, in just two seconds, most of the weird events in the last two days filled his mind, but he didn’t feel like he was processing any of them- I just don’t know what I said that could have made him…! I didn’t say anything that hadn’t been said before!-

-Well, what was the last thing you said before he left?-

-I! … I told him to… leave me alone…- With each word Lanyon concern was more and more obvious.

Henry Jekyll sighed- Robert, maybe he listened to you for once…-

-Henry, I’m sorry, I know we need the money but-

-Don’t worry Robert, don’t worry, there will be other sponsors… I hope, it’s not like he was going to continue funding the Society anyway- Henry opened the Society’s gates and gestured for Robert to walk in.

They both put their bests smiles on as they got inside the building and Jekyll accompanied Lanyon until they reached their bedroom. Maybe Hyde was making him see his worst nightmares lately, but he knew that the hidden distress in his best friend’s eyes back in the cab and the entrance had been real. He didn’t want to leave him alone more time than it was necessary; of course, Hyde complained about this.

Shortly after Jekyll had left Lanyon in his room and left ( Lanyon hoped to get some sleep at last ), a loud crash was heard from a nearby room.

In the Society for Arcane Sciences, a loud crash was an hourly event, but checking it wouldn’t hurt anyone, would it? And of course, it was an excuse as good as any other for Robert not to be alone with his thoughts. Dammed dark thoughts, why couldn’t any of this scientists make a medicine to get rid of them?  
God, he was even starting to think like a madman.

When he got to the source of the noise, he saw it came from Maijabi’s lab, full of mirrors and potions.   
Griffith, as grumpy as ever, and a pair of other lodgers running through the lab, searching frantically for something. -The rats! Dr. Lanyon!- said one of them- Griffith’s bloody invisible rats are going crazy! And a lab full of glasses is not precisely the best plEEEEK! I got another!-.

Lanyon closed the door so none of the animals would scape, and right as he did so, potions and plates filled with strange liquids were thrown from a cabinet by one of the animals; thankfully, they were probably very strange ingredients, as they levitated with their vessels through the room instead of falling.

Lanyon considered what to do, then he noticed how one of the sneaky rodents was reflecting on a nearby mirror, even though the rat itself was invisible, he looked at the reflection and approached carefully the spot avoiding getting hit by one of the floating plates. He jumped quickly and grabbed the animal, who surprisingly was pretty calm about it.

-Good catch Doctor!- said someone, but Lanyon couldn’t quite process it. As he looked at the full length mirror that had helped him, he froze, he could see the levitating plate that was supposed to be behind his head, he could see the rat body through his fingers, and even the wall behind him.

He could see desperate glowing red eyes staring back at him. It was almost an insult that they were the most solid part of his reflection right now.

His heart beating so strong that he almost couldn’t hear anything else, and yet way too aware of all his surroundings with each of his senses.

He threw the rat into its little cage and ran for the door. -I’m so sorry, but I must-.  
-Don’t worry Doctor, you have to rest right now, thanks for the help!-

That was the last thing he heard, one moment later he was closing his bedroom door and blocking it with a chair, making sure nothing could get in, closing the window and grabbing his diary with no intention of writing anything.

He let his exhausted body fall to the ground in a corner, trying to breathe. He was having a panic attack no doubt, and it was completely justified.

He held his notebook to his chest while the room became bigger and bigger around him. He pressed against the corner, fearing his only physical support would vanish. He couldn’t think straight. He couldn’t think about what had happened! He knew it meant something, but right now it all was a lot of unconnected images as space and an unreal nothingness extended around him. 

He couldn’t reason, he just followed his instincts, now so unfamiliar to him.   
He dragged himself through the floor, opened a door, and crept inside the wardrobe in which he had slept the previous night.

This new walls around him would have usually felt claustrophobic, but now they were like soft and dark embrace. This position was comfortable, and so was the solid wood around him.

He breathed, serenity returning to him eventually, and with it, all the memories, the pieces coming together.

His eyes, the comfy closet, the blinding sun, the reflection… what had happened with his father. Had he scared him away?! No, he seemed too calm, he actually looked… hypnotized. 

But, he could be going mad, couldn’t him? It was horrible how it was a not so bad option right now. 

He hadn’t even noticed before, but he was adjusting to a non-existent light, and that was concerning, but it allowed him to see a paper sticking out of the pocket of a fur coat. He reached for the coat and hugged it, it was warm and soft, a gentleman shouldn’t be even thinking about this.   
But then again maybe he wasn’t a gentl… No, he wasn’t thinking that. Not yet.

He held the paper between his fingers, he had never wished to harm himself in anyway, and he still didn’t. But he needed a little proof. Half closed his eyes and cut the smallest cut possible that would draw blood in one of his delicate fingers.

And blood indeed came out, and not even a second later, the wound closed completely leaving only a little drop as evidence.

Perplexed Lanyon licked grimacing the little drop. He was as familiar as any human with the iron-like taste of blood. And this didn’t taste as he remembered; this tasted differently, this tasted rotten. 

Robert Lanyon was sure then that his mind wasn’t playing any tricks on him. He was rotting inside.   
He was becoming a monster.


	8. Fur coat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lanyon has a long night and an empty meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to see the drawings for this chapters, you can see them on my instagram, mary_light_007 or on tumblr, marylight007 
> 
> I hope you are enjoying this fic, if you do, let me know. 😊
> 
> If you have any questions, you can ask them here or in any of my media, I would love to answer them.

-Dr Jekyll, I’m sure that it isn’t anything to be so worried about.- Rachel said, trying to sound as calm as possible when she knew that she was probably lying.

Some minutes before, after Robert had left in such a hurry, Henry had gone to investigate the noisy lab in which the lodgers were chasing the invisible rats, and it wasn’t long before he was told about how his dear friend had showed up too and had suddenly left, they all agreed that he had looked kinda ill. Henry tried to stay calm, but the nightmares and his own paranoia were winning.

He had remembered that Rachel was going to prepare him an extra light dinner, given that he hadn’t been eating much, and that she probably hadn’t finished it, so Robert should be still awake. He went to Robert’s provisional room and knocked the door. 

No one answered.

-Robert, It’s Henry, are you ok? The lodgers told me that you felt ill…- Henry called, concern all over his face and his voice.

-Well, well, well… It looks like your “boyfriend” has finally broke and he doesn’t want to even see you- Henry wished he could yell at Hyde, but someone could see them- You know, usually I’m the one that is focused on his emotions and doesn’t really think about what anyone else feels, you know I don’t really give a damn about people; but even I could see how hurt was Robert when we arrived and, there you were! Pushing him! Annoying your best friend as you always do!-

Henry didn’t want to hear Hyde’s words, they felt painfully true to him. Had he pushed the subject too far? He should have said nothing about Robert’s father nor his funding, his friend was way more important than that. Those were his thoughts as he headed to the kitchen to tell Rachel about his concerns.

-Rachel, I know I may be... overreacting, but what if the wound reopened, or something of the sort?- Henry watched Rachel fill a wooden tray with soup, bread, some freshly made plane biscuits…

-And go bleeding all over the corridor without any lodger noticing? I don’t think so, Doctor. Maybe he was just too tired and weak to run after rats, or a drop in blood pressure… nothing that some cookies and sleep won’t cure!- reassured Rachel as she walked to the door that Henry held open.   
She was repressing the urge of asking Henry were her dear friend Edward was, she wanted to find him as soon as possible, but it didn’t feel like the right time to ask.

They were now standing in front of Robert’s room. Rachel neared the door and tried to listen what was happening inside. She couldn’t, but Henry was a little nervous now about Rachel hearing him in his office talking alone without having even knocked.

-Can’t hear anything, Doctor. Maybe he is reading or something? He wouldn’t have fallen asleep before eating his dinner, wouldn’t he?- She knocked strongly in the wood- Doctor Lanyon! Dinner is here!- 

No one answered, not even a sound left the room. Henry looked at Rachel, he looked like he was on edge. And now Rachel was showing her worries too. 

-Doctor Lanyon, you need to eat! You are recovering, remember! I made you cookies and all!-

Nothing. Henry put his hand on the wall, like he couldn’t stand on his two feet anymore. 

-Very well, Doctor we have to check on you! If you don’t say anything, I’m getting in!-

-Rachel, no!- Henry whispered, if Robert was already unhappy with him, the last thing that would fix it was violating his privacy.  
But Rachel didn’t see it that way.

She reached for the doorknob and turned it. But the door wasn’t opening. Rachel pushed the door with her free hand, the soup on the tray almost spilled and Henry hurried to save Lanyon’s dinner. Now that both her hands were free, Rachel pushed the door with all her might. But the chair that blocked it didn’t give up. When Rachel was preparing to throw herself at the door, Henry decided it had been enough.

-Rachel, please, it’s obviously blocked!-

-Yeah, I know that!-

-Then we aren’t opening it, so just stop, he obviously doesn’t want anyone bothering him!-

-Weren’t you the one freaking out about this! What if-

-He is a doctor, Rachel, I’m sure that if he was hurt he wouldn’t shut us out, look, he has probably fallen asleep.- Henry sure wanted to tear that door down, but he had to grant his friends wishes, he had already been through enough.

-And what about his dinner?!-

-We’ll just leave it here, if he wakes up, he’ll have it right outside the door.-

-It will be frozen by then.-

-It’s all we can do, what do you want, chop the door out with and axe? Give him a heart attack? His pulse is already pretty weak since the… incident.-

-Well, but…-

-I know, Rachel…, let’s get going.-

Little did they know about Robert’s panic attack and little blood test that had taken place just moments before their arrival. Robert listened their footsteps as they left, thinking if he should be able to hear it from inside the wardrobe. What if that was another change? Well, enhanced hearing wouldn’t be the worst of the changes. 

He was still hugging the fur coat. He unconsciously distracted himself examining it, it had stains, but not from food, it smelled like some chemicals? Maybe some salt? There were holes in it, and they seemed to have been made on purpose, he wondered who was the owner of it.   
Everything in this closet, apart from the few clothes that were his, looked quite abandoned. He had heard that Jekyll’s mysterious assistant loved to ruin clothes like this.

He closed his eyes and buried his face in the fur, he adjusted himself to be more comfortable. Stretched his legs, turned a little. Was he smelling… peppermint? Had Jekyll’s famous scent rubbed on the coat? Now he hugged it tighter.

He opened his eyes only to see that, not only he was still in a closet, but in the ceiling of a closet. Did he even need more proof? But he didn’t suffer all the horrible things that Jasper had said. He could stand on the sun, even if it bothered him; he still had pulse; he certainly wasn’t bloodthirsty; he could… could he still eat? Last time he had eaten he hadn’t been hungry, but he could ingest the food. 

He could check that, right then.

He carefully slided down the wardrobe, climbing up had been instinctive, but getting to the ground was a little more difficult. He got out of the wardrobe and walked erratically, still sniffing every now and then, towards the door. The fur coat still in his arms.

He got the chair out of the way, poked his head slowly to make sure no one was around, he didn’t know if his eyes were still red, after all, and he wasn’t in the position befitting of any respectable man. He grabbed the food tray and blocked the door again.

He sat on the floor, his back lying on the side of the bed, grabbed the spoon, he thought about how delicious Rachel made the soup with so little resources. He shoved a spoonful of soup inside his mouth.

He immediately spit it all out. 

It tasted horrible and he was entering another panic attack. He tried another spoonful and spit it again, this time in a handkerchief. He tried to force himself into swallowing bread, but the nausea was too strong. And finally one of Rachel’s specialties, her cookies. And they were also impossible to swallow. 

He breathed heavily, his eyes darting from one side of the room to another. He grabbed all the pastries in his hands, and crushed them. This meant that he was still trans… changing. No, no changing, TRANSFORMING, with all the weight that the damn word had.

And now what? He asked himself while he reduced one cookie to crumbs. How much time do I have left? What is going to happen? Will I even still be me? Will I be even alive? Will I have to KILL? 

Would he have to disappear? To vanish from his own life? Not, if no one discovered it… But how would he hide it? How, if he wouldn’t be able to even stand in the sunlight?

He climbed up the bed and hugged the fur coat, he smelled the peppermint.

He didn’t need to deal with that for now, did he? Who knows how much time I have left?  
He felt his pulse with his fingers.  
My heart is still beating, I don’t have to deal with that now.  
I will deal with each problem when it comes, just the next thing, the next step.

When the sun raised, he noticed how, although unbearable to look at, it didn’t burn him. Not yet.

He had spent a seemingly endless night inside the closet, sobbing, clinging to the wardrobe ceiling, and hugging the peppermint fur coat.   
Now he knew that he had to stand up, carry on, and even though he had no idea how to do it, get through this day.  
He also had to hang that coat, which hurt more than it should do.

Someone knocked at the door, he took a deep breath, dismantled his little barricade, and opened it.

-Good Morning, Robert, are you fine? I saw that you took the dinner that Rachel left for you, did you eat it? Too many questions?- Henry was clearly still concerned, and clearly he had had too little sleep. 

-Come in Henry, I’m alright; I did take the dinner.-

-Yes, and… what did you do with it?- Henry asked as he saw the spilled soup and the endless crumbs all over the floor.

-Well… it…-

-Robert, aren’t you the one that always tells me to let the sun in?- Henry said while he drew the curtains open.  
Robert squeezed his eyes shut.

-Robert! You look terrible, you are so drained! What happened? Do you feel ill? You could have some kind of infection.-

-Henry, It’s fine, really, it’s fine. Just, sit down a minute.- Robert got out of the sun rays and sat on the bed.- Hadn’t been getting much sleep, that’s all. The sun… makes my head kinda hurt, but it’s nothing, really.-

-Robert, let me at least check you wounds- begged Henry as he drew the curtains shut again.   
He approached Robert and proceeded to check his neck, as professionally as he could.- Well, it looks very healed, but the scars will probably remain…-

-Henry… I have something to tell you-   
Robert looked at Henry in the eyes, could he tell him, if there was someone in the world he would trust, it would be Henry.   
He was his best friend, such a good person… that’s precisely why he couldn’t tell him, he was turning into a monster, the exact opposite of what Henry admired, who knows what what he would think?   
Why had he said he had something to tell him?   
What can he say, what can he?  
-I… I think that I should… pay a visit to my father!-

-Robert, wait, are you sure?-

-Yeah, as soon as possible.- He had thought about it at some point that night, what had been of his father if his theory about involuntary hypnosis was right?

-Well, if you say so, but don’t feel pressured because of the funding, please. I’m sorry about what I said last night, your recovery is far more important.-

-It’s fine Henry, and I’m fine.-

-You don’t look fine, you should be eating much more, I don’t know if I can let you go home unsupervised in this state.-

-I’m sure I’ll get better through the day, but I will obey the doctor’s orders.- He was going to have to think of some way to get rid of the food he was given, and knowing Henry, he would probably have to stay at least one more night at the Society. His mind told him that it was not safe to stay around people, his secret would be easily discovered.  
But he liked not to be completely alone.

-Well, if you really want to go, you’d better start by combing that unruly hair!- Joked Henry.

-Yeah, sure.-

As soon as Henry left to let him prepare for breakfast and for his visit to his father, he started to get dressed and to brush his hair. Then he found himself with another problem that he would have to face in the future. If he had already so little reflection, what would he do when it disappeared completely?

They were now standing in front of Lanyon Sr.’s monumental house, Henry had insisted on going along with Lanyon when he saw him fetching an umbrella, Lanyon was clearly in no condition to go out alone if he couldn’t even stand the sun yet. 

Lanyon agreed, but asked him to let him alone to speak to his father. Who knows what could happen?

Two servants let them in, they both looked clearly anxious, and they seemed relieved to see Lanyon. Henry was led to one of the living rooms, one finely decorated and meant for visitors; Lanyon was led to his father’s chambers.

-He arrived so late at night, he did; he probably came walking all the way from that party, but maybe something happened to him on the way?! I don’t know, nobody knows. He just stood at the entrance until the butler took his arms and dragged him to his chambers. He slept very little, but he hasn’t even moved by himself since he woke up! He hasn’t eaten nor drunk at all.-

Al the servants were close to his father’s room, none of them could imagine what had happened to their master. 

-Please, leave me alone with my father, I will check on him.- As Robert finished his petition, all the servants in the room left and the door was closed.

Lanyon could hear them behind the door, he would have to be cautious. He neared his father’s bed, and he saw how he still had the very same face that he had had when he left the party. Before the realization of what was happening to him, that face had looked empty; but now that he understood the truth, his father’s features resembled those of a dead man, or a cursed puppet.

-Father, can you hear me?-

His empty father nodded without looking at him. 

-Father, look at me.-

His father obeyed. Lanyon took a deep breath. What if when he returned to normality his father knew what he had become. Because he was coming back, wasn’t he?

-Father, come back; wake up; snap out of it!-

It seemed the only order that this puppet wouldn’t take. Now what? His breathing was getting faster as his despair grew. His father wasn’t even eating. He would die if he continued like this! Lanyon got the silver tray that held his father’s breakfast. 

-Now, drink your tea, father.-

And he obeyed. Lanyon closed his eyes, thinking. Well, if he couldn’t release him, for now, he might be able to help him in some other way, he had to be precise with his words.

-Father, listen to me- He looked directly in his father’s eyes, he didn’t know, but his own were shining bright red- You will eat your food when you are told so, you will drink, bathe, walk, sleep…- and the list went along all the basics Lanyon could imagine necessary. His father’s butler was a trustworthy man, he could tell him that his father had some sudden illness and had to be told what to do. He should be able to survive, and he would talk to his father’s lawyer about the house expenses, and the investments…

Wait, his father would do all he was told to. He would sign any document. Any paycheck… No, no, that was completely unethical. But it would be for the Society, for Henry. No, he couldn’t start to take advantage of his cursed condition. If he walked down that path, he may end up like Dev… like that monster.   
But Henry’s health was declining because of all this pressure, all the lodgers needed this money. 

Maybe, in the future, if it was absolutely imperative…?

For the time being, he had other things to worry about. He had to call the butler, inform him of this made-up strange disease. Tell Henry. Write lots of letters to relatives and business partners… 

And checking how fast his body was turning.   
He just hoped that his mind didn’t plan to turn with it.


	9. Photograph

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lanyon finds one last hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, that new chapter is finished and for you to read. I would love to say that I have been busy studying and the usuals. But the truth is that (just when this pandemic was arriving to Spain) my appendix thought “what if we go through a surgery now”. I know that you don’t care about this but... there were complications and I have an excuse for not posting for so long. But I bring a super cool chapter as compensation, well, not for poor Lanyon.
> 
> I insist, you may interact with me and tell me if you like this story.

Edward Hyde stared at this bizarre scene. A room filled with the most ornamental furniture and expensive decoration in which the perfect gentleman sat as he waited for his trusted business partner. That would be the routine. But the hallucinations filling the room, the concern in the gentleman’s face, the situation that brought them here… it was like seeing a farcical comedy for Edward! The poor man wouldn’t take much more before falling to pieces, and he would be right there to take the reigns.

As Jekyll tried to ignore Hyde’s train of thought and avoided as casually as he could the imaginary puddle of blood slowly staining the carpet, he wondered what was the strange illness which the servants talked about. 

If Robert’s father was seriously ill, even though his relationship with his son wasn’t the best, how would Robert take it? After everything he had been through lately, would he be able to take much more?

-Worried for your little friend, Doctor? Because I’m not, he was the one who came up with your little plan of throwing me to Scotland Yard’s most wanted-

Jekyll stopped looking at Hyde’s appearance on the golden teacup to look at the now open door.

Robert Lanyon entered the room with his eyes lost, told Jekyll to remain in his seat and threw himself carelessly on the armchair. He remained cautiously in the shadows, and he wished that Henry wouldn’t notice that this was on purpose.

After a long explanation of the situation that Lanyon had made up in ten minutes and hoped to be believed for… hoped to be believed for the time necessary, he listened to Jekyll’s reassuring words. They were sincere, he had taught Jekyll what to say in hard situations and he knew that these weren’t the rehearsed phrases that he would say to other people. He liked it when Henry was frank with him, when Henry wasn’t completely overwhelmed by the society or other problems, he wanted to believe that he was honest with him.

Robert felt like he had always been the most false one, but from now on, the lies would be absolute. He flinched at the thought of hiding like this from his dear friend forever. And there was another word that may have a new meaning now: forever.

He instinctively sat up to avoid showing Henry all those emotions in his face, he had to focus on keeping up the act, he didn’t want Henry to think that he was too affected by these events. He opened the door to let his friend out and they walked down the corridor. 

He could hear the voice of the already informed butler telling the staff what to do, he was quite certain that Henry couldn’t hear it, nor any other hum… regular person. Everything reminded him his condition, the sun, the lies, his own senses. He didn’t know what to do now, where to head for.

They walked down a corridor with the wall filled of family portraits and he stopped before a photograph of himself. He had this one taken a month ago, he was certain that his father didn’t want to have his image constantly in his house, but it was mandatory to keep up the perfect family act.

-Robert, I really think that he will be alright, you know, most people in your situation would send him off to Bedlam, you are proving to be…-

His friend kept talking as if stopping suddenly to look at your family images without saying a word wasn’t weird at all. 

He thought that if he was vanishing from the mirror, he would probably be invisible to a camera as well, he hadn’t asked Jasper that question though, and he was afraid that it would be too late to ask without raising suspicions. He would have to assume that any rumor was true until he could check them out. And he couldn’t precisely go to have a portrait taken and suddenly have to explain why he didn’t appear in it.

This was probably the last photograph he would ever appear in, it wasn’t very big.

He reached for it, hooked it off the wall and looked at Henry.

Henry gave him a sad understanding smile. But Lanyon knew that he couldn’t actually understand him. He hoped that he was still able to digest some alcohol, because he needed some now.

Back at the society, Jasper sat in the kitchen while Rachel prepared a big pot of stew that would be their dinner. He had two books, one opened in front of him, another closed in his hands. They were both quite thick, and the opened one was noticeable older and was full of notes taken by some cryptozoologist from the past. There was a drawing of a long fang in that page.

-I don’t know, Jasper, but would you please turn that page already, it’s quite unsettling…- Said Rachel looking at the old book.

-Exactly! Oh, yes, of course- Jasper turned the page, which was replaced by one with a castle on it - That’s what I meant, I don’t want to look like a creep by showing him this, and I don’t want him to revive anything… But he looked so eager to know more about this creatures! These are the best books about the subject that I found in the society’s library, I’m pretty sure that they are the most reliable ones.-

-If you think that he will like them, you can just leave them anonymously with his stuff, I think that he is finally going home today, Dr. Jekyll has run out of excuses to keep him sleeping here.-

-But, what if they harm him?-

-He is not a child, Jasper, he is a man of science, I’m sure that if he doesn’t want to know about the subject, he won’t open a book that says ‘Investigations about blood-suckers and blablabla’.- said the girl confidently.

-Yeah, you’re probably right.- Jasper gave a faint smile before a scream was heard and someone called his name in the hall. Well, ‘wolf boy’ wasn’t his name, but he rushed there as fast as he could anyway.

Henry Jekyll and Robert Lanyon sighed in unison, the one-eyed bat that Jasper calls Darwin was wreaking havoc as it tried to chew on people’s hair, it must have been really hungry. 

They wouldn’t say so, but it was somewhat nice to see a scene so typical of the Society, it was not a comfortable routine, but it was a routine.

Jasper rushed in and lunged towards the creature, which avoided him and flew towards Jekyll and Lanyon completely decided to keep munching on people’s hair. But it stopped as it neared them, it now smelled curiously Lanyon’s scent. 

Lanyon broke into cold sweat at the sight of the creature being gently grabbed by Jasper, and which didn’t stop looking at him. Of course this damned thing would notice it, and of course that his scent was probably changing too.

He calmed himself down telling himself that the animal, as magical as it could be, certainly wasn’t going to talk. It wasn’t a human, it wasn’t even a parrot!

What now caught his attention was the book that Jasper held, a vampires book.

He leaned onto a nearby table, reminding himself to breathe until he heard the sound of wood being ripped. He unclenched and lifted his hand to see five marks on the table. His nails were now not only longer and pointier, but also slightly darker. 

-Robert, are you alright? That bat isn’t dangerous at all it isn’t goi- Jekyll was cut off.

-I’m fine Henry- said Lanyon covering the marks in the table with his hand- I’m sorry I alarmed you, I was just a bit surprised that’s all, it didn’t harm me at all.-

Lanyon faked a smile and lead Henry as far from the table as he could, as if seeing some marks on a table would reveal his now deepest and darkest secret. He then grabbed his portrait, which he had finally decided to keep, and headed towards his room to pack his belongings. 

To say he was alarmed by two books waiting before his door is an understatement. He took the volumes and entered the room checking if there was someone around, someone who might had left them. But just reading the titles, he knew exactly who had left them. Not even twenty minutes before Jasper had had this book!

Was it a message? Had he found out about his secret? How? Was he being too obvious? How the hell had Devon made it so long before being found out? 

Calm down, he had asked the boy about this some days ago, maybe he was just being nice. But on the other hand he was indeed a cryptozoologist, maybe he had found out somehow. He didn’t have a doctor title, but he knew better than to underestimate a scientist without titles. There you have Frankenstein, a drop out that had poisoned herself but had successfully reanimated a corpse. 

The truth was that he couldn’t know it, as he couldn’t know a lot of things about himself now, and it was frustrating. He would have to be prepared for any move that this boy tried to make.

He sat on the bed and opened one of the thick books, it was quite a deep investigation about vampires which, with a bit of the luck he was lately lacking, would be reliable. He might even find answers, maybe a cure? Could he even allow himself to have that hope?

He looked at a small mirror sitting on the table, he was fading quickly from it. He could clearly see the part of his clothes that should be covered by his neck. If he made an effort he was still able to see his freckles fairly well and he could see that he was growing increasingly pale. He was scared of how his image would change when he was completely a monster and he couldn’t look at his reflection anymore.

He would have to avoid Dr. Maijabi’s laboratory from now on, too. 

It was getting late, he packed his clothes, his diary, the books and finally his photograph. He had grown fond of being near his friend, but he knew that it was safer and easier to be alone. He sat again and put two fingers on his wrist, looking away from his now dark and sharp nails.   
He took his pulse, it was much lower than some hours ago. A pulse this low shouldn’t even be capable of keeping him awake. And soon it shouldn’t even keep him alive.

Lanyon sat for one minute more trying to process the day, and when that failed too, he stood up, clutched his case and left the room. 

Henry would bid him goodbye at the door and he would head to his house while the sunset allowed him to stay in the dim light instead of the shadows. He wondered how he would keep a diurnal life from now on.

When Robert Lanyon arrived at his house, which wasn’t too far away from the Society, it was completely dark outside. Had he not been in a city, he would have seen some stars. After donning his expensive cloak and letting his butler take his case to his dorm, he gathered all his staff to announce them about his father’s condition.   
He established some new rules to be followed that would give him some more privacy, luckily the change in his familiar life made comprehensible a sudden change on his behavior.

He almost felt like a criminal, lying so easily to everyone. He knew that he had that capacity, of course, but using it to hide something so dark felt completely different than lying about anything else.

His cook, Emma, Rachel’s friend, asked him what would he wish for dinner and for breakfast in the morning. He stared at the window silently. He would probably never taste another of her delicious cooking and she wouldn’t even know. When he noticed how absent-minded he was being, he smiled at her and answered that anything she considered fitting. 

He went up to his dorm, unpacked his luggage, hung the photograph in his room. It was somewhat painful to look at it, but he wanted that to change, he was decided to get used to it. He poured himself a glass of his favorite wine and cursed between his teeth when he confirmed that the taste had completely changed. He couldn’t even drink to forget now. Some time later he was noticed that the dinner was ready.

-So Jasper left the books at his door?- asked Dr. Jekyll while Rachel placed a cup of tea and a plate of cookies in a small free space between all the documents on his desk.

-Yeah, and they weren’t there anymore after he left so he must have taken them.-

-I hope he doesn’t think that someone is mocking him, after what happened today at his father’s place…-

-Hey Dr. J, it’s usually us two the ones who take care of you, you know?-

Jekyll chuckled, looked at Rachel in the eyes and suddenly freezed. Unbeknownst to the young cook, the Doctor’s personal demons were forcing him to see the girl rotting and covered in a strange substance. Even though he knew that it wasn’t real, it was completely unnerving.

-Dr. J, are you feeling well?-

-Yes, perfectly fine.- Henry gathered himself. -I love talking to you, Rachel, but I guess that we both have work to do now.- Henry led Rachel to the door.

-Yeah, but remember to sleep tonight Doctor!- She said as she heard the door being locked from the inside. She swore that the two founders of this place were cursed or something. Maybe they built the Society on an ancient cemetery ruins and were actually somehow cursed! Ha! Maybe Hyde was an actual spirit after all! It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing about this place.

Lanyon told the staff to leave him alone during the dinner, he tried to eat a little bit, it all looked so delicious! But of course it didn’t taste like that, not anymore. He managed to throw it away and take the empty dishes back to the dining room not to raise suspicions. Then he went back to his dorm, checked his reflection and pulse, which were steadily decreasing and took notes about it all on his diary. 

Before this happened he wondered how Jasper Kaylock had managed to write all his experience as a werewolf, but now he saw that it wasn’t only therapeutic, it was addictive. He almost felt like one of the lodgers now. One of the lodgers that Henry had had to save from the police.

But he was certain that Henry wouldn’t save him if he knew what he was turning into. A blood sucking monster he had heard the lodgers call Devon.

He spent the whole night swimming through the books surprisingly fast, taking notes about all what seemed important and everything he could test too.

Finally, between two moth-eaten pages, a small loose note that contained some fairly common ingredients said what he had been so desperately hoping:

“In this village, when someone is killed by the monster, his body is buried with these in his mouth, the old man say that it keeps them from turning into vampires.”

These, these were good news! There was a cure! He just hoped that it would still work on him.

The morning sun raised when Lanyon had already arrived at the Society, he had a big black umbrella to protect himself, but he had chosen to leave extremely early too in order to avoid the beautiful sun rays. He didn’t want to test when exactly it would star to actually burn him. 

He would act as everyday, telling everyone that he had slept perfectly well (another blatant lie) and had left home early. He would also reassure Rachel that he had had a copious breakfast.

The next part of the plan was the hard one. With the small list in his pocket, he had to find everything without asking anyone and without being seen. He took a pile of documents to look like he was working just like every day and started navigating into any laboratory or storage room that would be left unsupervised for a moment. His decreasing heartbeat made him feel like racing against the clock.

Slowly but surely, he was finding everything he needed. Sometimes, when a lodger approached him, concern in their eyes, he would feel a sting of guilt at the thought of stealing something that may be important for their work. He tried to remind himself that he wasn’t taking much and if they still didn’t want to participate in the exhibition it’s not like they had a deadline.

The lodgers still spoke about Devon as a devil that was better off dead. That was making him increasingly anxious, but he acted as he was expected to. He also was extremely careful to avoid mirrors. Since when there were so many reflecting surfaces in Jekyll’s office? And his friend also seemed to glance at them, a lot! Why did he do that? It was making him so paranoid.

At the end of the day he was exhausted, but he had gathered all the ingredients. After he left the Society’s walls, he became the topic of conversation of the lodgers.

-The poor man is so tired… he shouldn’t be already working!-

-I never noticed how much he worked too, not so much as Jekyll but…-

-Well, I for one feel so fake after talking so badly about vampires!-

-Please Griffin!-

-No, he’s right, not all vampires are like Devon and you know that.-

-I have already met two at Blackfog, and they are monsters, yes, but not like that you know?-

-It’s true that it’s a blasted curse, of course, werewolves like the new one don’t need to predate on human blood…-

-I’ve heard that most of the older vampires are ending up like Devon, too many changes in the world around them drive them crazy.-

-The new ones are fine then?-

-But how many new ones can there be? Not many! (Yes, more tea, thank you)-

-I still think that Devon could have run away easily, I think that he wanted to end his not-life.-

-Such a shame that we found the deranged one, it would have been so cool to examinate a creature like that.-

-Where is the new one? He would probably enjoy this topic!-

-I think that he is with Ms. Pidgley in the kitchen, those two seem to get along sooooo nicely since the fire, y’all know?-

Back at his house, Lanyon knew that he should be feeling tired, but his oh so faint pulse told him that he was running out of time, he grabbed some utensils from the kitchen, cut plants, mixed them with salts, poured oils and created the antidote. He felt so excited, so certain that it had to work. 

He swallowed the mixture ignoring its repulsive taste. He breathed deeply and let the bowl slip from his hands to fall to the ground. He waited for something to happen, five minutes, ten, twenty. And his pulse was still as low as ever. He moved to the bathroom where he counted with privacy and with a large mirror. He was barely able to differentiate slightly pointier ears, when had that happened? 

His stomach burned, everything in the potion was more or less apt for human consumption. But then again he supposed that not for him. A strong nausea invaded him but he refused to give up. When his veins started to turn visible black and he felt his canines only so slightly pointier he allowed himself to throw up the mixture.

One hour later, his eyes glowing red, his teeth still not back to normal and a few tears running down his face he assumed not only that the antidote had been useless, but that he wouldn’t make it until the morning before his pulse had completely stopped and his reflection had vanished forever.

He spent hours with his hands on his chest, reaching for a heartbeat that soon would be gone. Grasping at it desperately as if he could keep it from leaving. After what he guessed was four o’clock in the morning his heartbeat was gone for several seconds at a time. He didn’t need to see his reflection to know that his canines were now much larger and sharp and his nails had grown and turned completely dark.

Around five in the morning he felt his heart stop forever and asked himself if he had any feelings left too. Later he would check that he still had them, and he wasn’t sure whether it was good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lodgers love vampires, and Jekyll and Hyde secretly too! But feel like they have to talk about them reaaally badly so Lanyon may feel supported and better. If only they knew.
> 
> Also, if you consider that I should put some warning tag, feel free to tell me, because I’m not good at seeing those. I read Poe as fairly tales when I was little. I don’t know if I have written to much blood or not.


	10. Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert Lanyon is dead. But life goes on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’m still posting drawings for each chapter on my instagram, and now twitter too! It would be really heartwarming if you checked it out.
> 
> Also, I’m taking lot’s of timeline-related liberties. Just, putting some days between events, so Lanyon and Henry are going to suffer the same, but longer, I’m afraid.
> 
> Instagram: mary_light_007  
> Twitter: @marylight007

The sun shone over London, kids played carelessly in carefully attended gardens, the city was busy and gleefully working, full of life. From a dark bathroom a Doctor could hear it all painfully clear, the world laughing at his pale face. 

Robert Lanyon was dead.

After hours of torture with no physical pain, Lanyon wondered how your heart stopping without your body following suit could feel so casual, it was almost liberating after a whole night of waiting. 

He considered whether to move or lay for the whole day on the floor, maybe the whole week, or month… But shortly after seeing the sun calling softly at his purple curtains, ironically gentle, as if it wasn’t able to set him on fire now, he heard voices in the house: a girl wondering if she was to clean her master’s bedroom, a man worried for him, another girl working in the kitchen. His hearing had become almost as clear as his vision, making him dizzy and drawing a map of his surroundings in his head.

He remembered that there were people out there, people who would notice if he stayed here, people who, he wished with all his might, had cared for him. That is, before his death. Because he was dead now, cold and monstrous, even if they didn’t know.

He started to wonder if he could be considered himself any more, the gentleman who walked through this very door yesterday, full of hope. But that would have to wait, for he indeed still had feelings, and those feelings begged him to grip tightly his life, the life where there were people he cared about, where he had Henry waiting for him at the Society to start working. 

As he got up and sloppily cleaned the mess that his failed attempt at saving his life had provoked, he knew that acting as if this hadn’t happened would be extremely painful, and he decided to move as an automaton, thinking about work, something that right now seemed so trivial, or anything else, at least until getting out of the house. 

He searched for clean clothes in his closet. Should he wear black? No, that wasn’t going to happen, even if he felt as if in his own funeral, he wouldn’t let himself turn even slightly more similar to the popular image of a blood-suking monster. He chose purple clothes, as usual, put them on, reached for his comb and looked at himself in the mirror. 

Well, not himself, not anymore he thought as he stared at his floating clothes in the reflection. Now he felt plainly stupid. He combed blindly his hair and put on a few drops of perfume. Actually, with a werewolf cryptozoologist at the Society, he decided to put quite some more perfume all over himself, unfortunately noticing his now enhanced sense of smell. He hoped that it would be enough, the thing was that he didn’t know what differentiates the human and the vampire scent, so he covered his own completely. 

He walked out the door of his room, taking mental notes of all the reflecting surfaces he would have to get rid of before his wife returned home from… wherever she was, he hadn’t actually paid attention when she informed him. 

He sat to have breakfast and couldn’t help but notice the odd looks of the staff, he knew his nails and ears were pointier, but what more had changed? Were his eyes red? Were his teeth too long? He felt his canines… well, more like fangs now. But he didn’t think that they could be so obvious! Devon’s weren’t! He had used the monster as reference, but maybe he was different in some way… He could have grown a demon’s horns for what he knew! He didn’t know anything about himself now, and he hated the little he almost did.

-Sir, are you feeling alright, this morning?- his butler asked, again with that odd look. The man glanced at the untouched breakfast.- I’m sorry, master, but you look so very pale, sickly so.-

-I’m feeling quite well- then he remembered his father supposed illness, the perfect excuse- given the circumstances, of course.-

The butler agreed and left him, not before Lanyon noticed how he glanced at his hair, of course it would be a disaster, but there wasn’t much more he could do about it. He got rid of the breakfast, which looked delicious, but no longer smelled as it used to. Or at least to an increasingly melancholic Lanyon.

Then, Lanyon put on his largest top hat, a long cloak and a black umbrella, carefully avoided being seen getting out of the house with his anti-sun look and he ventured in the dark alleyways of London towards the Society for Arcane Sciences. 

Inside the walls of the Society for Arcane Sciences, some lodgers talked about the latest news, a gruesome murder of a young man from a rich family. He had been found in his home, and nothing had been stolen. His young fiancée had found the body. 

London wasn’t a peaceful city, and a crime like this wouldn’t have been so weird. Except for the fact that the murder weapon had been a stake and that the high society victim had shining red eyes, fangs as sables and almost pitch black blood. Rachel thought for just a minute about the poor soul that would have to clean such a horrible scene. 

-Has anyone else noticed that someone we know has red eyes?- asked someone in the little crowd.

-Dr. Jekyll? Of course, but not shining!-

-Yeah, come on, he is way too boring to be a monster. He can’t be even a proper mad scientist!-

-That and, vampires don’t always have red eyes. The have ordinary eyes until they decide to… ATTACK!-

-Gagh! Don’t scare me like that!-

Jekyll could vaguely hear voices from his office, he would make an effort to decipher them, but he had more pressing matters that needed attendance. He had a letter to write to the murdered man’s family. He also would write one to the poor Mr. Utterson, as he was the one who had presented him to the boy that was now on each of London’s papers. 

But first he would have to find some ink, which was proving to be a difficult task since the whole stance was covered in this imaginary blood-like goo. 

-Damn you, Hyde! You aren’t going to let me even find some ink and paper? This is important!- asked the tired doctor.

-Why, that depends dear doctor… Are you letting me out already?- said Hyde grinning.

-You know my answer!-

-Then you’ll have to write that letter with wine!- 

Hyde was growing impatient, this was taking much longer than he expected, Jekyll had been so busy helping Lanyon that he had almost distracted himself from the nightmares. Last night though, had been a restless torture for the doctor, so Hyde was confident that he would break down soon.

Jasper and Rachel neared the Society after having spent the night talking with Rachel’s sister in law. Jasper tried to comfort her while she practically ran through the door. 

-Rachel, I know that you want to find Mr. Hyde! But Lucy was right, his whole story is very weird! You need to find something, a lead, a proof of his innocence!-

In the shadows, decently hidden even without any practice, Lanyon heard the conversation loud and clear. The front of the building was too sunny, and he had snuck through the alleyways to get to the back door. But the conversation between Miss. Rachel and Mr. Kaylock had caught his attention. It seemed like Rachel had been looking for Hyde, he had planned to do exactly that before the whole… incident. Damn it, he should stop using euphemisms, he was in a stinky alleway dressed as a criminal and with no heartbeat. As painful as it was, he ought to start facing the facts, just as he faced his portrait.

Lanyon adjusted his hat and leapt quickly over a short stripe of sun. Luckily the cloak, umbrella and hat protected him just as they were supposed to and he walked into the building donning them off.

He would have to talk to Henry now, but before that, he could ask Rachel about her endeavors about Hyde. He was decided to find out what was going on with his strange relationship with Jekyll. He knew something was happening to Henry and Hyde was the best lead he had. Even if he was dead, he was going to take care of Henry just like he had done until now. Even better now.

He got into the kitchen where Rachel was offering Mr. Kaylocke some… breakfast chicken? God, they were a weird pair. Some days ago he would have judged Jasper, but he was more humble now about the food matter. He hadn’t even stopped to think about what would happen when finally he got hungry.

-Good Morning, Miss Pidgley.- said Lanyon as he closed the door.

-Mornin’, Doctor Lanyon! Feeling better today? I hope you… Oh my, you look really sick!- Rachel directed her eyes at the usually so well kept doctor and his sickly face, and what was worst, his hair was a disaster! It seemed like a trivial thing, but not for someone like Lanyon.

Lanyon noticed where her eyes were looking.

-Oh, long night, and my hair is probably a disaster, it’s a little windy today, isn’t it?-

Rachel didn’t remember any wind, but they had came through the alleyways, so maybe there was indeed some.

-Anyway, I couldn’t stop myself from hearing that you are trying to find Mr. Hyde…-

-Yes, I am. And you aren’t stopping me, Doctor!- Rachel said, knife in hand.

Lanyon didn’t bother to show any emotion.- Put the knife down, Rachel, I don’t want to stop you. I want to help you.-

They talked for a while, Rachel didn’t seem to believe him at first, but when he told her that his worries were because of Henry, they finally managed to get on the same page. More or less. Rachel informed Lanyon about Lucy’s search. They wondered about Jekyll’s relationship with Hyde. They also argued a bit about Hyde’s innocence, and Lanyon decided to find some evidence to support his suspicions. 

As Lanyon walked out the door Jasper spoke up, - Dr. Lanyon?-.

Lanyon flinched, but quickly hid it. He had been avoiding thinking about the books Jasper had given him, and about the possibility of being figured out by the werewolf, but now his fears had returned suddenly, crashing him like a huge cold wave.

-Yes, Mr. Kaylock?-

-Uhhhmmm… new perfume? Very sweet, but nice!-

-Yes, it is, thank you.-

-Wait! Ah, sorry.- Jasper was clearly nervous about something, and Lanyon was about to run away and hide himself somewhere dark and deep- I left you those books yesterday, at the door. I hope you didn’t feel disturbed about them. It’s just that you seemed so interested in the subject!-

Lanyon decided to stop the boy’s apologies.- Yes, thank you, Mr. Kaylock. I was, am interested in the matter indeed.- 

Jasper smiled relieved and Lanyon headed to Jekyll’s office.

He wasn’t able to avoid listening to all about the apparent murder of a vampire. How was he even supposed to feel about that? That creature was a monster that was better off dead! But so was him now… Would Henry think that if he had been the one impaled? He couldn’t avoid hearing even the smallest mouse squeak anymore. 

He ignored his mouth that felt increasingly dry. And a little unease at his stomach, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How have you all been? I know this all is horrible, but we all must learn from this fanfic angst and try to carry on. Even if we don’t know how, or what for, little by little, we’ll find out.


End file.
